The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) personnel at Mad River Hatchery began allowing wild origin steelhead and hatchery origin steelhead to enter the hatchery Feb. 4, to start spawning operations. The hatchery action is based on an amended court-ordered stay, signed by Judge M.M. Chesney, allowing hatchery operations to proceed with conditions agreed to by CDFW and the plaintiff Environmental Protection Information Center.

The court action allows Mad River Hatchery to collect, trap and spawn wild origin steelhead for brood stock for one year. Two of the main conditions of the action were the belief by National Marine Fisheries Service that progress was made on the development of a Hatchery Genetic Management Plan and agreement on the collection of natural origin steelhead trout in the coming year.

“Collection operations went very smoothly today,” said Shad Overton, Mad River Hatchery Manager. “It is critical we include both wild and hatchery origin fish to ensure the best genetic diversity of eggs possible for future releases. Our goal is to release 150,000 yearlings next year.”

Trapping, collection and egg take were delayed due to litigation. Spawning usually starts in January and continues through March. This time window allows the hatchery to spawn returning fish throughout the run. This year’s later start is not expected to affect overall spawning operations.

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The salmon ladder at Nimbus Hatchery in Rancho Cordova will open Nov. 4, signaling the start of the spawning season on the American River. California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) hatchery workers will open the gates in the ladder at 10:45 a.m. and will take more than a half-million eggs during the first week alone in an effort to ensure the successful spawning of the returning fall-run Chinook salmon.

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The three major state-run hatcheries in the Central Valley – the Nimbus Hatchery in Sacramento County, and hatcheries on the Feather River in Butte County and the Mokelumne River in San Joaquin County – will take approximately 24 million eggs over the next two months in order to produce Chinook salmon for release next spring.

Each hatchery has a viewing area where visitors can watch the spawning process. At the Nimbus and Feather River hatcheries, thousands of schoolchildren tour the facilities each year. The visitors’ center at Nimbus Hatchery includes a playground with replicas of giant salmon that are enjoyed by young and old alike. For more information about spawning schedules and educational opportunities at each hatchery, please visit the CDFW website at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/Fish/Hatcheries/

Around the state, there are eight state-run salmon and steelhead hatcheries, all of which will participate in the salmon spawning effort. Those hatcheries, along with federally run hatcheries, will be responsible for the release of 40 million juvenile salmon into California waters. These massive spawning efforts were put in place over the last 50 years to offset fish losses caused by dams that block salmon from historic spawning habitat.

Once the young salmon reach 2 to 4 inches in length, one-quarter of the stock will be marked and implanted with a coded wire tag prior to release. CDFW biologists use the information from the tags to chart their survival, catch and return rates.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) released 900,000 steelhead smolts from its Central Valley hatcheries in February.

The year-old, 6- to 8-inch steelhead will flow down the Sacramento River into San Francisco Bay, then to the Pacific Ocean to feed and grow. In one to three years, the adults will return to the river waters in which they were raised.

The steelhead came from three hatcheries:

-The Feather River Hatchery released more than 400,000 steelhead smolts into the Feather River near Marysville;

-The Nimbus Hatchery released more than 315,500 steelhead smolts into the American River near the Howe Avenue Bridge in Sacramento;

-The Mokelumne River Hatchery released 185,000 steelhead smolts into the Mokelume River at New Hope Landing.

Dams on the Feather, American and Mokelumne Rivers prevent steelhead and salmon from reaching most of their historic spawning areas. CDFW operates hatcheries on each of these rivers to mitigate for the loss of spawning habitat and maintain salmon and steelhead populations.

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The salmon ladder at Nimbus Hatchery in Rancho Cordova will open Nov. 5, signaling the start of the spawning season on the American River. Department of Fish and Game (DFG) hatchery workers will open the gates from the river at 10:30 a.m. and will take more than a half-million eggs during the first week alone in an effort to ensure the successful spawning of the returning fall-run Chinook salmon.

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The three major state-run hatcheries in the Central Valley – the Nimbus Hatchery in Sacramento County, and hatcheries on the Feather River in Butte County and the Mokelumne River in San Joaquin County – will take approximately 38 million eggs over the next two months in order to produce an estimated 24 million Chinook salmon for release next spring.

Each hatchery has a viewing area where visitors can watch the spawning process. At Nimbus and Feather River hatcheries, thousands of schoolchildren tour the facilities each year. The visitors center at Nimbus Hatchery includes a playground with replicas of giant salmon that are enjoyed by young and old alike. For more information about spawning schedules and educational opportunities at each hatchery, please visit the DFG website at www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/HatList.asp.

Around the state, there are eight state-run salmon and steelhead hatcheries, all of which will participate in the salmon spawning effort. Those hatcheries, along with federally run hatcheries, will be responsible for the release of 40 million juvenile salmon into California waters. These massive spawning efforts were put in place over the last 50 years to offset fish losses caused by dams that block salmon from historic spawning habitat .

Once the young salmon reach 2 to 4 inches in length, one-quarter of the stock will be marked and implanted with a coded wire tag prior to release. DFG biologists use the information from the tags to chart their survival, catch and return rates.

A Sacramento judge last week ruled in favor of the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), resolving a series of lawsuits brought by both industry and environmental groups attacking the state’s hatchery and fish stocking programs.

Taken together, the rulings mean that the DFG can continue its Fishing in the City program, its Classroom Aquarium Education Program, its own anadromous and trout stocking and the issuance of private fish-stocking permits.

“This decision reinforces what we have known here at Fish and Game for some time: that our fish-stocking program adopted in 2010 strikes the right balance by affording public fishing opportunities while maintaining our stewardship of California’s rivers and streams,” said DFG Director Charlton H. Bonham.

“I am particularly gratified that we were able to protect our Fishing in the City program which benefits thousands of urban anglers each year,” Bonham added.

In 2010, DFG certified its Hatchery and Stocking Program Environmental Impact Report, which described how DFG would operate its trout, salmon and steelhead hatcheries, its stocking programs, including stocking for Fishing in the City, and other program elements.

In August, DFG won lawsuits brought by two environmental groups alleging that DFG’s program violated the California Environmental Quality Act. Those lawsuits were brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics. DFG had earlier settled a similar lawsuit brought by the Owens Valley Committee.

Last week, DFG won the final challenge to its fish stocking program. That lawsuit, brought by the California Association for Recreational Fishing and joined by the Council for Endangered Species Act Reliability, challenged DFG’s ability to have certain restrictions in the contracts DFG enters into for its Fishing in the City Program.

The lawsuit could have shut down the Fishing in the City Program and possibly crippled DFG’s ability to issue private stocking permits.

DFG’s Fishing in the City program started in 1993 to allow fishing opportunities for residents of Los Angeles, OrangeCounty, San Francisco and Sacramento.